Wednesday, January 27, 2010

9 podcasts I enjoyed and cannot all review extensively

Over the past week or two I have accumulated such a long list of podcasts that I have listened to and are candidates for reviewing that I cannot simply spend a post on each of them. Hence, I took nine of them and pack them here together.

Letters and Science 140D (feed), The history and practice of human rights (Berkeley) - I have started this course with great interest. Not only does it give a much broader view on human rights that I have been used to (I remind you I studied and taught law at some point in my life), but it is also a very pleasant renewed encounter with Thomas Laqueur as a lecturer. For a more extensive review I kindly refer you to my colleague DIY Scholar.

Science and the City (NYAS) about the Silk Road - this short science podcast takes us to an exhibit about the Silk Road and its history. In 18 minutes you will not get more than a tip of the iceberg. The subject that struck me most was the description of one of the cities on the central cross roads (the east-west and the north-south connections) Turfan.

Exploring Environmental History - Jan Oosthoek interviewed Vimbai Kwashirai, Lecturer in African History at Durham University, about the debates and processes of woodland exploitation in Zimbabwe during the colonial period (1890-1980).

In Our Time (BBC) - Delved into the Glencoe Massacre in 1692. A sample of war time atrocities.

The Memory Palace - Once again Nate DiMeo knows to capture history, insight and human drama in five minutes of historic narrative.

LSE Podcast - Professor Mark Mazower lectures and answers questions about Europe after the European Age. After it has ruled the world for a couple of centuries, is the old continent on its way to become a backwater again? Or is it reinventing itself and will it continue to play its part on the world stage? History and geopolitics as you can find it frequently at the London School of Econonmics, take for example the last lecture I reviewed about China, the future hegemon.

Podularity - George Miller interviews Stephen Asma on his book On Monsters. This is not about monsters, it is about human fears.

Veertien Achttien - The outstanding Dutch podcast about The Great War, which talked about Henri Barbusse that French writer, who condemned the war in his famous Le Feu and the Italian writer Gabriele D'Annunzio who is portrayed as an early version of Mussolini.

Making History with Ran Levi (עושים היסטוריה! עם רן לוי) - The most entertaining way I have ever been told the history of the internet. Podcast in Hebrew.